Can't believe I haven't posted in this thread yet...I think it's great that some Indy fans are beginning to appreciate the Young Indy series. Montana & Rocket (even Robyn and another Ravenhead, who wrote me privately) are getting interested.

Truthfully, it was tough. I have ALWAYS been a hard-liner, (movies only). But between the Indy Cast and The Raven, (for better or for worse), I've become more open.

I'm just embarking on my Young Indy experience, but I'm pretty excited to see how things developed. Between Laird's reflections and the posts of fans like Junior Jones and yourself, I'm pretty excited to explore what's been produced so far. Thanks...

That's because you've been busy appreciating Young Indy in all the other threads - and it was your educated comments that got me thinking seriously about exploring this series.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocket Surgeon

Truthfully, it was tough. I have ALWAYS been a hard-liner, (movies only). But between the Indy Cast and The Raven, (for better or for worse), I've become more open.

...and it was reading that Rocket (the undisputed hard-liner!) had purchased the Volume 1 DVD, that sealed my fate. I've now watched all three volumes, and was really surprised at the high quality of the production.

I really like Young Indy.
It's nothing like the movies, but it wasn't suposed to be.
I'm very interested History (as a matter of fact, this year i'm starting college, and I will do History) so it's cool to me seeing Indy in some real world History.
You do learn a little about the Great War, about religions (In the "Jorney of Radiance" episode), regions in the world, etc.
We also know a lot more about Indy's past and his relationship with his parents (including his fight with his father) because of the series.
There are some good episodes, my favorite is "Oganga: The Giver and Taker of Life", wich I think it's very beautiful.
The series is well done, no doubt about that.

I agree that there are some bad things about the series, but since this isn't the tread's subject, I will stay away from then.

I agree 100%,IndyBr.I like the show even though there are few things and episodes I don't like.But,for the most part,I love the show.

I remember someone saying that the show really didn't get into the whole father/son relationship going bad,but I think the show did get into that very explicitly.
1.In the British East Africa,September 1909 episode,Teddy Roosevelt said to Henry Sr. something like he had a good son and Henry looked at his son not even smiling at him.How cold.It would be normal for a parent to be smiling like crazy if someone,especially someone they hadn't spent much time with,would be bragging up their child.

2.In Daredevils of the Desert:Palestine,October 1917,T.E. Lawrence said to Indy that he should keep in touch with his father,but Indy didn't want to hear it.

3.In Treasure of the Peacock's Eye,Indy was reading a letter Helen Seymour wrote to him before she died and she also urged him to keep in touch with his father,but yet again he didn't want to hear it.You would think he would listen to her of all people,she was his tutor after all.It was practically her dying wish.The scene he was reading her letter made me want to cry,because it meant a lot because they became such good friends and then she was gone.

4.In Winds of Change:Princeton,1919,Indy went home to find his previous high school sweetheart,Nancy Stratemeyer,married to the high school bully,and had a baby.Anyway,the episode mainly had to do with Henry Sr. and Indy arguing most of the time and ended with Henry Sr. and Indy having one last argument.Now,every time I watch Last Crusade,where Henry Sr. says,"You left just when you were becoming interesting",I think of that scene when they had there last argument.

So,my closing argument is YES they DID get into a lot of father/son relationship problems in the show.
That's one of the many things I did like about the show,is that it did have the background story as to why they,and how they,didn't get along and how they connected the show to the movies.

I also remember reading that someone didn't like the fact that Lloyd Owen didn't have an accent,when in fact he did.It might not have been very strong,but it was there none the less.From what I read about him,he is a British actor of Welsh descent,which means he does have an accent.

Lloyd Owen was a great choice for the younger Henry Sr - I had no trouble imagining him growing up to be Connery in Last Crusade.

The father/son relationship was shown very strongly, as you illustrate, AnnieJones. It became really intense in 'Winds of Change', and at that point you can understand that it's going to take 17 years to reconcile their differences. The difference between them is that Henry Sr seems firmly rooted in Victorian attitudes to children, whereas Indy is making his mark in the twentieth century.

The attack on "Ciudad Guerrero" is actually a COMPLETE rip-off of the film "Old Gringo" with Gregory Peck. (One day I'll post a side-by-side comparison and many Young Indy may be shocked/disappointed.)

The connection runs even one level deeper. The temp music we used to show the scene to ABC was from... wait for it... Old Gringo. So, Larry Rosenthal first saw a cut of the attack with Old Gringo music in it as well. (And by the way, the soundtrack to that film is quite good.)

Thanks for the link to the thread as well. I hadn't seen that one yet, and I was going to look for something like that. I think most episodic TV shows eventually hit the iconic movies. Star Trek certainly did this, as did other shows. You get your Great Escape episode, your Run Silent, Run Deep episode, your Towering Inferno episode, etc. I don't think that's all that bad per se - just common.

And appropriately speaking of Indy connections to other films, the Lighthorsemen score (Track 14, The Charge) has just come up randomly on my home music server. Another great score.

Yeah, i agree with you two about it.
The last half of Wings of Change does a perfect job in showing us the "break up" between Indy and his father, it's very dramatic. And this episode has one of my favorite musics from the series, that sad music that plays when Indy sees the picture of his mother, and latter when he's going away from home I think, beautiful music. The music is no doubt another positive point for the series.
I also like the actor used to play Henry Jones Sr., an excelent choice in my opinion.

I'm in the same camp as the OP. There are times when the show feels like a polar opposite to the movies but they did allot of good things with the series and it's just as well that it's educational and fun to watch.

It would have been nice to have given us at least two major cliffhangers an episode, (like the appearance of The Incredible Hulk ( )), even if they didn't always directly involve Indy. That he was there to witness someone perservering and considering the alternative would have sufficed now and again...learning the lesson not to give up.

I agree 100%,IndyBr.I like the show even though there are few things and episodes I don't like.But,for the most part,I love the show.

I remember someone saying that the show really didn't get into the whole father/son relationship going bad,but I think the show did get into that very explicitly.
1.In the British East Africa,September 1909 episode,Teddy Roosevelt said to Henry Sr. something like he had a good son and Henry looked at his son not even smiling at him.How cold.It would be normal for a parent to be smiling like crazy if someone,especially someone they hadn't spent much time with,would be bragging up their child.

2.In Daredevils of the Desert:Palestine,October 1917,T.E. Lawrence said to Indy that he should keep in touch with his father,but Indy didn't want to hear it.

3.In Treasure of the Peacock's Eye,Indy was reading a letter Helen Seymour wrote to him before she died and she also urged him to keep in touch with his father,but yet again he didn't want to hear it.You would think he would listen to her of all people,she was his tutor after all.It was practically her dying wish.The scene he was reading her letter made me want to cry,because it meant a lot because they became such good friends and then she was gone.

4.In Winds of Change:Princeton,1919,Indy went home to find his previous high school sweetheart,Nancy Stratemeyer,married to the high school bully,and had a baby.Anyway,the episode mainly had to do with Henry Sr. and Indy arguing most of the time and ended with Henry Sr. and Indy having one last argument.Now,every time I watch Last Crusade,where Henry Sr. says,"You left just when you were becoming interesting",I think of that scene when they had there last argument.

So,my closing argument is YES they DID get into a lot of father/son relationship problems in the show.
That's one of the many things I did like about the show,is that it did have the background story as to why they,and how they,didn't get along and how they connected the show to the movies.

I also remember reading that someone didn't like the fact that Lloyd Owen didn't have an accent,when in fact he did.It might not have been very strong,but it was there none the less.From what I read about him,he is a British actor of Welsh descent,which means he does have an accent.

I'll appreciate the father/son relationship aswell. It's the main issue of Winds of Change but you see insights across the other episodes about how their relationship works, some you've pointed out.

This is just my interpretation but Henry Jones's problem is that he can't show Indy that cares about him. And he does in Travels with Father. When Indy runs away (the time his mother scolds him aswell. Hm...) "I just want him back!" And when they are reunited his chance of showing it is destroyed when he's distracted by Tolstoy.

Obviously he does again when they hug in Greece. And I think you see, off-screen, another "I just want him back!" when he writes to Professor Levi (if I'm remembering it right) to say Indy doesn't have to attend Princeton.

Then there's "Because I know it's what your mother would have liked." Suuure, mother. "And I never told him anything. I just wasn't ready, Marcus."

I'll appreciate the father/son relationship aswell. It's the main issue of Winds of Change but you see insights across the other episodes about how their relationship works, some you've pointed out.

This is just my interpretation but Henry Jones's problem is that he can't show Indy that cares about him. And he does in Travels with Father. When Indy runs away (the time his mother scolds him aswell. Hm...) "I just want him back!" And when they are reunited his chance of showing it is destroyed when he's distracted by Tolstoy.

Obviously he does again when they hug in Greece. And I think you see, off-screen, another "I just want him back!" when he writes to Professor Levi (if I'm remembering it right) to say Indy doesn't have to attend Princeton.

Then there's "Because I know it's what your mother would have liked." Suuure, mother. "And I never told him anything. I just wasn't ready, Marcus."

Anna Jones on the other hand is a deceptive.. person.

To get a bit Freudian...

I see the relationship as that of a Victorian father and a twentieth century boy. Henry Sr strikes me as someone who didn't have a very close relationship with his own father, so he doesn't really know to deal with Indy. Most of the time everything is formal and proper, but occasionally, his defence breaks down and he's able to become a real father. His refusal to open up and accept the difference between himself and Indy is as much about Henry Sr's inadequacies as it is about Indy's rebellious nature.

Winds of Change was pretty powerful - you feel like shouting at the screen for Henry Sr. to do something positive to stop the inevitable.

Watching the relationship develop and collapse throughout 'Young Indiana Jones' really sets up the believability of the conflict and reconciliation of Last Crusade.

I just remembered something that I think I should share with everyone here.It's a funny story about back when my sister and I were shopping for The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones Volume 1 & 2 DVD set,most likely in late 2007,because that's when the first two volumes came out,or we could have been shopping for them in early 2008,after they were already out on DVD.
Anyway,we went to a video/DVD store in the mall and I asked the male clerk(who appeared to be in his 30s),"Does this store have the first two seasons of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles?" (I called them that,because at the time,I didn't know that the DVDs were called The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.)He had a confused and somewhat shocked look on his face and said,"What's that?" I said,"It's an Indiana Jones T.V. show." Then he responded,"I never knew they made a T.V. show about Indiana Jones?!" As it turned out,the store did have the first two volumes and the clerk was surprised to see them on the shelf(top shelf on the far left).

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnnieJones

I recently discussed this event with my sister and she reminded me that we went to Best Buy first,then the mall.The guy who worked at Best Buy appeared to be in his 20s and gave us a similar reaction when we asked him if the store had those DVDs.She(my sister)reminded me that he was equally shocked when he saw that the DVDs were there on the shelf.But for some reason,I remember the incident from the mall,not the one from Best Buy.Anyway,there you have it.

Sit and think of this for a second.You are watching the first episode for the first time and let's say you didn't know that there was such a thing as a Young Indy show.Anyway,you kind of forget to look at the opening credits as you're watching this and the story unfolds before you.
As your watching and listening to the story,you realize that there are a lot of things that sound familiar,like Jones,my dog Indiana,archaeology,and so on.You quickly put the pieces together and realize you are watching Indiana Jones in his childhood!You think(or say out loud),"Wow,I never knew they made an Indy show!"

That's how I always imagine it when I'm watching the first episode.Like I never knew it existed and I'm seeing it for the first time or that I'm the person I'm showing it,to who never knew it existed,and is seeing it for the first time.
I think the reason I do that is because of the experience I mentioned earlier.

Does anyone else agree that the YIJC is the last GREAT thing that Lucas' produced? Sure, KOTCS was a good, fun romp; the SW prequels had some merit, but IMO, Young Indy is a perfect mix of the fun romp of the first two and the depth of something like LC. It's really like an adventure--A life's worth of it. I don't think he's done anything quite as great or genuinely deep since.

Does anyone else agree that the YIJC is the last GREAT thing that Lucas' produced? Sure, KOTCS was a good, fun romp; the SW prequels had some merit, but IMO, Young Indy is a perfect mix of the fun romp of the first two and the depth of something like LC. It's really like an adventure--A life's worth of it. I don't think he's done anything quite as great or genuinely deep since.

I agree, myself; in fact, I'd go a little further and say it's one of the absolute greatest things Lucas has ever done, and certainly both his greatest work since at least the early '80s, as well as the finest part of the Indy canon aside from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deckard24

Maybe one of you die-hard YIJC fans can tell me this, does Indy(as played by SPF) in the very last few episodes start to show some signs of him maturing into the Indy we know circa 1935? I've only seen a handful of the CC Young Indy episodes and the same for the SPF ones. SPF's portrayal is what made me lose interest in the series, because he never came across to me as a younger version of Ford's Indy. So since I gave up early on the series, does he mature into a closer resemblance of the Fortune and Glory Indy?

Well, there's some difference of opinion on that...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Violet

No. He doesn't turn into a mercenary. Not even a resemblance. I would say closer to the "That belongs in a museum!" Indy. But at the same time, they never got making Season 3, which had scripts more akin to the films with characters such as Abner and Belloq and a certain skull made of crystal, which would have allowed the development of a resemblance of the Fortune and Glory Indy. I think it would have happened had Fate and a certain TV channel allowed it but I guess that won't ever happen now.

See, I do see the beginnings of his mercenary tendencies, even as they're tempered by his youthful idealism; his experiences in the war really help bring about the mixture of cynicism and idealism that shape the flawed but essentially heroic character he develops into in the movies.

I'm probably a bit more forgiving of Sean Patrick Flanery's portrayal than many others here, but for me I think he actually does work beautifully as a younger, earlier version of the Harrison Ford Indy. I suspect the resistance to his portrayal really comes down to the fact he simply doesn't particularly closely resemble Harrison physically, either facially or vocally. However, his actual performance nails it perfectly - there are so many subtleties in his mannerisms, inflections and so on that really draw upon Harrison's performance, that I have absolutely no trouble buying him as the young version of the character we see Harrison play in the features.

I thought the years with him as a kid were okay, but once SPF stepped into the role the series really took off for me. I loved most of those adventures, especially all the stuff in WWI. Oganga the Giver and Taker of Life was probably my favorite, but there were a ton of them I enjoyed, like Phantom Train of Doom, Attack of the Hawkmen, Trenches of Hell and Masks of Evil. It was cool to get so much insight into Indy's formative years.

I loved the Young Indy series. I didn't like the hideous, grissled, old Indy that introduced several of the earlier episodes in the original television run, so I was happy to see that he was omitted in boxed sets. Seeing Harrison Ford introduce "The Mystery of the Blues" was such a treat and I'd love to customize a 12 inch figure to look as Ford did in that episode. If I had to pick a favorite episode, I would say it is "Attack of the Hawkmen", which also has the best DVD history docs. The trench battles in this series were the most epic I'd ever seen and would have been just as incredible if it were seen on the big screen. I liked the guest stars, too. When Catherine Zeta-Jones made her steamy appearance on this series, I knew she was going to be a mega-star. The only guest star I didn't like was the actress who played Mata Hari, who bore no resemblance whatsoever. The real Mata Hari was dark haired with dark eyes and had easily convinced everyone that she was an Indian princess. The actress in the series was fair-skinned, red-haired, blue-eyed and honestly not very attractive- very bad casting.

I loved the Young Indy series. I didn't like the hideous, grissled, old Indy that introduced several of the earlier episodes in the original television run, so I was happy to see that he was omitted in boxed sets.